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Bethpage Black, home of this week's US Open, is rightly considered a monster, with almost all of its greens marooned in sea of deep rough and protected by plentiful bunkers.

And though that rough won't be as thick as it was in 2002 - these days, the USGA likes the thickest rough to be reserved only for the worst drives and approaches - the par-71 course has been stretched to 7,496 yards to ensure a tough test.

Bethpage Black: Hole-by-hole

1. 430 yards, par-4

A tough dog-leg gives the players something to think about right from the start. Do you play with an iron to ensure a steady start, or try to slide a ball with the left-to-right curve of the fairway and leave yourself a simple wedge to the narrow green? Take the shot on and this is one of the best par-four birdie chances on the course.

2. 389 yards, par-4

The shortest par-four on the course - and the only one under 400 yards - is one of the more straightforward holes at Bethpage. A clear birdie chance as long as you land your ball on the fairway. Otherwise, the approach to the raised green will be more hack-and-hope than precision bombing.

3. 232 yards, par-3

There's nothing wrong with a long par-three from time to time, but this utter brute has a green angled at roughly 45 degrees, which falls off at the edges towards a trio of bunkers. Three is a cracking score on this one - but for those who manage to find the middle of the putting surface, the flat green might yield the odd birdie.

4. 517 yards, par-5

A tiny par-five by modern standards - the par-four seventh is actually longer - this is a cracking, strategy-heavy hole that will throw up everything from eagles to treble bogeys. Players will be tempted to go with two irons and a wedge to set up a birdie chance, but the raised green is difficult to judge even with a short approach. With that in mind, many likely to risk going for it in two and relying on short game to get up and down should they miss.

5. 478 yards, par-4

The sort of hole which makes you wonder if course architect AW Tillinghast wasn't something of a sadist. An appallingly tough hole that demands a 270-yard carry over rough and sand to an angled fairway. Players can't even aim away from the long bunker, either, since they'll need to be as close to it as possible to steer clear of the overhanging oak tree branches on the left of the fairway. The small, raised green with sand back and front completes proper beast of a par-four.

6. 408 yards, par-4

The course throws up a brief respite after the nightmarish fifth, with another hole where birdies are possible since anything on the fairway opens up a classic target-golf approach downhill to the green. Big hitters can even take on the corner to get their drives down the hill and leave a chance for a pitch-and-putt birdie.

7. 525 yards, par-4

No, that's not a typo: this really is a par-four! A hole that has been lengthened by 36 yards to be longest two-shotter in the history of the US Open. The challenge is simple: drive up to the corner of the dogleg on this generously-wide fairway and you're left with a long iron or hybrid up to the green. Miss that fairway and a five or worse suddenly becomes the likely outcome. Will be one of the contenders for the most difficult hole of the week.

8. 230 yards, par-3

A picture postcard par-three that demands a solid shot to a big green whose different pin locations will determine whether it's the water at the front or bunkers long and left which pose the difficulty. Ignore the official yardage: the USGA are on record as saying that they'll change this hole's yardage every day, meaning that it'll play between 135 and 230 yards.

9. 460 yards, par-4

This hole was a bit of a cakewalk at the 2002 US Open, but you can almost hear the maniacal laughter emanating from the USGA after the changes made. Forty-two yards and a fairway bunker at driving distance have been added to make it a very different prospect. Even a perfect tee shot leaves a long, blind second from a sloping fairway to a raised green. But big hitters could yet have the last laugh: if they can carry the corner, then it's a wedge to the green.

10. 508 yards, par-4

Little strategy to be had on this hole, which is pure penal golf. Players need a perfect drive splitting the fairway bunkers before heading slightly left to the crowned green with deep bunkers set into the slope on which it sits.

11. 435 yards, par-4

Like the 10th, another simple-but-tough hole that calls for a perfect drive through the middle of the eight fairway bunkers followed by a shot to the green. But while the 10th uses length to ramp up the difficulty, the much shorter 11th relies for its defence on the trickiest putting surface on the course.

12. 504 yards, par-4

The second-toughest hole at the 2002 US Open has changed little. It still calls for a 260-yard carry over the bunker at the corner of the dogleg, leaving a long approach to a large, two-tier green. Any player who gets through this horrific three-hole stretch at the beginning of Bethpage's back-nine without dropping a shot will either be brilliant or lucky. Or both.

13. 605 yards, par-5

Long, long, long. It's all about not slipping up on the marathon 13th, but so long as players keep on the straight and narrow there is little to stop them picking up shots here. Big hitters will even be able to take on the green with their second shots, since the ground kicks down towards the green beyond the bunker 30 yards short of the putting surface.

14. 158 yards, par-3

A short, beautiful par-three that should yield plenty of birdies as players attack the pin with short irons and wedges. There will be fun and games when the pin is positioned on the new back tier, however. It's small and awkward to hit, and with a large bank behind the green running away from the hole there's the chance of a few bogeys.

15. 458 yards, par-4

Not the longest of holes by modern standards, but could end up being the toughest hole of the week - as it was in 2002. It's critical that drives find the fairway to give the player any chance of finding a small, heavily sloping putting green that is raised some 50 feet above the level of the fairway. Brutal.

16. 490 yards, par-4

The inviting drive from the raised tee will be a relief after the rigours of the 15th hole, and that change of elevation means that players will have little more than a bog-standard mid-iron to what is another difficult green.

17. 207 yards, par-3

Similar to the third, this long par-three also has an angled green that makes club selection critical. Unlike the third, this hole is ringed with tricky bunkers that make finding the putting surface critical if you want to walk off with a par. Massive grandstands all around will give it a dramatic stadium feel.

18. 411 yards, par-4

Though many of the preceding holes are as tough as anything the US Open has ever thrown at competitors, the closing hole offers a clear chance for dramatic final-hole triumph as well as disaster. A downhill tee shot shortens an already modest length, and the player who takes on the narrow fairway and bunkers will have a pitch and putt birdie almost in their grasp. Yet those who take it on and miss could see their challenge falter in the sand.

Toby Keel / Eurosport